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by Cliff Rold - For fans in other parts of the world, title time is already underway in the 2012 boxing season. For U.S. fans, it starts this Friday. Rescheduled from what was supposed to be a December date, one of the great amateurs in the history of boxing will attempt to win his first major (non-interim) title as a pro.
It is only his ninth fight.
He’s favored to win.
This, of course, is not the amateur ranks. The pro game has proven in the past a difficult bridge for men who dominated the unpaid field. Guillermo Rigondeaux was the sort of talent who figured capable of sailing over. Winning all but a dozen of some 400 starts for the Cuban national team, Rigondeaux won Gold at the 2000 and 2004 Games along with World Amateur titles in 2001 and 2005.
His first paid step up left room for doubts about his suitability for the pro game. Matched with rugged veteran Ricardo Cordoba for the interim WBA belt at 122 lbs. in 2010, Rigondeaux built a strong early lead, punctuated with a knockdown in round four.
Then he hit the deck in the sixth and the wheels came off a bit. Perhaps more correct would be to say they came on. Staring at his first twelve round fight, Rigondeaux went into a shell, moving and rarely engaging down the stretch. He hung on for the win but left fans unsatisfied. The clamor to see him again was nil.
Was the reaction too harsh? Despite his amateur achievements, it was still only his seventh pro outing while Cordoba had gone to scratch more than forty times. Friday night, he has the chance to put Cordoba behind him and give fans a new point of entry into his career. [Click Here To Read More]
It is only his ninth fight.
He’s favored to win.
This, of course, is not the amateur ranks. The pro game has proven in the past a difficult bridge for men who dominated the unpaid field. Guillermo Rigondeaux was the sort of talent who figured capable of sailing over. Winning all but a dozen of some 400 starts for the Cuban national team, Rigondeaux won Gold at the 2000 and 2004 Games along with World Amateur titles in 2001 and 2005.
His first paid step up left room for doubts about his suitability for the pro game. Matched with rugged veteran Ricardo Cordoba for the interim WBA belt at 122 lbs. in 2010, Rigondeaux built a strong early lead, punctuated with a knockdown in round four.
Then he hit the deck in the sixth and the wheels came off a bit. Perhaps more correct would be to say they came on. Staring at his first twelve round fight, Rigondeaux went into a shell, moving and rarely engaging down the stretch. He hung on for the win but left fans unsatisfied. The clamor to see him again was nil.
Was the reaction too harsh? Despite his amateur achievements, it was still only his seventh pro outing while Cordoba had gone to scratch more than forty times. Friday night, he has the chance to put Cordoba behind him and give fans a new point of entry into his career. [Click Here To Read More]
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